NEWS & EVENTS

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) Joint Information Environment (JIE) Increment 1 reached initial operational capability (IOC) on July 31. The event was marked by a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the first regional Enterprise Operations Center (EOC) in Stuttgart, Germany.

JIE is the largest restructuring of information technology (IT) management in the history of the DoD. The end state is a secure, joint information environment comprised of shared IT infrastructure, enterprise services, and a single security architecture. JIE will enable DoD to achieve full-spectrum superiority, improve mission effectiveness, increase security, and realize IT efficiencies.

“This IOC represents a fundamental strategic shift in how the DoD will operate and defend the DoD Information Network for years to come,” said Air Force Lt Gen Ronnie D. Hawkins Jr., director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).

The EOC is responsible for managing access to the JIE enterprise within the areas of responsibility for the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). The IOC is a validation of the processes and relationships that will be used to support EOC operations as JIE continues to expand. Subsequent capability upgrades will mark significant events in the development of the JIE.

The JIE EOC serves as the single entry point and primary executor for DoD Information Network (DoDIN) operations, as well as defensive cyber operations, in designated areas of support. End-state services provided by the EOCs will include providing support to core data centers and assuming operational missions from other EOCs in a failover capacity. Eventually, EOCs will provide computer network defense capabilities for DoD enterprise entities regardless of service affiliation.

The EOC will eventually provide combatant commanders a robust and reliable situational awareness of DoDIN global operations and defensive cyber operations from a single site for their assigned areas of responsibility. This will increase security, operational flexibility, and responsiveness.

U.S. Cyber Command, USEUCOM, USAFRICOM, service components, and DISA all played a significant roles in the achievement of the IOC by validating the JIE Management Construct and relationship between the EOC and bases and the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), including reporting procedures. The U.S. Air Force at RAF Molesworth/Alconbury made an important contribution to ensuring the lines of communication with the EOC were established and bandwidth was optimized. As a result, EOC has visibility and situational awareness of select base/post/camp/station (B/P/C/S) networks and has command and control of the B/P/C/S enterprise connections.

Members of the DISA Europe Field Command commemorate the initial operational capability of DoD's Joint Information Environment Increment 1 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the first regional Enterprise Operations Center in Stuttgart, Germany.